Ga area with low property taxes

poaky1July 21, 2013

I was curious what (rural hopefully) area of Georgia is cheap. Mature live oaks are a plus, which I think may be too much too expect! Seriously, though. I think Mc Intire, Ga and surrounding area, mature Live oaks are a MUST. They MUST be healthy though. Sorry, but I want to know how much it will cost to retire in the area I have posted about and possibly more South East of it, but in zseveral years in the future.

You are asking for two different things. I live in Charlton County. We pay no school taxes because my husband is a senior. We only pay $40.00 a year in property taxes. We have trash pick up and road grading. We live on a dirt road. Not many if any live oaks here. Live Oak, Fl (yes, that is a real town) has mostly live oaks. It is a nice old fashioned town, but it got hit bad by a storm. Alot of the old live oaks got knocked over. Florida is alot more expensive to live in. I love live oaks, but money talks. No animal control here. Lots of hunting dogs. Loose dogs running around and lots of barking dogs sometimes. Very low crime area. Hey, everyone has at least one rifle! And ya know the dogs don't bark most of the time.

I forgot that I had posted this question, Zackey. It would not be possible to get a place in Georgia for quite a while. I was hoping for a place where the Live oak tree is hardy. I'm just playing around with the idea. As for the dirt road and dogs running loose, we have a couple in my neighborhood. We have 5 indoor dogs in my household. I love dogs and even let them sleep in my bed with me. These are big dogs too, my Newfie is over 150lbs. So no problem there. I just am scared of snakes. In my area the only venomous snakes here are eastern copperheads. I have only seen one once. I went fishing with my husband and one was sunning on a rock. After that I've only seen black racers and garter snakes. We have Eastern rattlers, but not until you go up the mountains and some local caves, quite far from my rural but close to town neighborhood. I am not sure if I will actually be able to move for sure, but I thank you for your information, and insight, your town sounds fine with me.

There are big rattle snakes here and water mocassins. I'm sure Live oaks are native here. Just more pine trees than anything. We live 15 miles from the nearest town in Florida and it has lot of Live oak trees. I have never seen a big, bad snake here. Just some tiny rattle snakes. Very easy to kill. It's just something we live with. Ya can't have everything.

I am deathly afraid of snakes. That is something I guess anywhere in the south, you have to expect, but I wouldn't feel right killing them. That may seem dumb to many people. If you are 15 miles from Florida, you have Live oaks. I am trying a hybrid of Texas live oak and coast live oak. They are doing fine, this is only their second winter in Pa, so far so good.

Yes I am posting here again, I have been drinking a little again. If I repeat myself Zackey, it's fine if you don't reply, you replied on another post I made not long ago. I have had a bit of success on my Live oak hybrids, they have about 3 inches of die-back on their tops, but will be fine after trimming back the dead areas. Not bad for these Live oaks, having pencil lead thin branches, at 2 yrs old. I have read that some homes in Ga, likely more southern, they do have basements. When I had been in a double-wide we had a mouse problem. If I ever get extra money for a winter home in Ga, I would likely get a mobile home, but on another subject on this forum, some folks had a mouse and (gasp) RAT problem in regular homes, and surely trailers. My double-wide was close to a field, planted with a rotation of corn, wheat, and soybeans. We even had a basement. The little Bas*t*rds came up under our sinks. The kitchen sink, and the garden tub in the master bathroom. I guess with much thought and planning they can be outsmarted....... or can they?.........

We never had a mouse or a rat in our mobile home. We did have some in our storage box (an old tractor trailer box, very commonly used in these parts for storage). A plain old snap trap and a little peanut butter works great. Our biggest problem is palmetto bugs. Just a few now and then. More creepy than anything. We have woods on two sides and no rodents inside in 7 years. Of course now we have 3 outdoor cats (feral, but they are fixed). The biggest problem with leaving a home would be pipes exploding if you don't drain the pipes and shut off the water in the winter time. Mold in the summer if you aren't running the a/c.

A friend of mine mentioned those palmetto bugs before. You mentioned your pipes are in cement, so the mice can't use that route. We have many indoor/outdoor cats also here. I am no longer in the doublewide, but here when mice are indoors, they are "gifts" from our cats to us. Dead of course. Happily, not too often though. I see your mention of mold in a winter home, left empty in summer. Thanks for replying Zackey. I realize you may be busy, being that you are likely able to dive into gardening in your zone 8 yard. Reply if you want to, if not I realize you are likely busy now.

I'm never too busy to respond! Our pipes are not in the ground. They are just under the house hidden by skirting. I wish I could garden today. It is supposed to freeze tonight. Our last frost date was March 20th. So in come the pots of tomatoes and peppers and the strawberries get covered so they (hopefully) won't freeze. Then up to 80 degrees on Thursday. Such wacky weather!

Yeah, I thought of putting some stuff in pots. Lettuce, leaf lettuce, "Ruby", "Nevada", Little Ceasar and Giant Ceasar". I already have the 2 Ceasar's started. The Cabbage and Broccolli will be fine in a cold greenhouse. Anyhoo, Our last frost date is supposed to be May 15. I listed that date, because the day after Mother's day used to be it, but last year it was May 15th.

I just want to add that I have 3 live oaks from Mossy oak natives in Mississippi, that made it through this winter, which had about 8-10 day/nights of -10 and -8 etc. They have good buds, ready for new spring growth. I will post pics of the new spring growth/leaves in May. I hope they don't leaf out earlier than that. Zackey, even if you are in a colder area of Georgia, these Live oaks can take anything Georgia can dish out. They took several -10 F and -8 F, etc. They grow 2-3 ft a year after the first year. The first year, they are getting settled in. I am a Live oak lover. I know you may not be, but, I thought I would share the info.

Yeah, I can see buds on my older Live oak "late drop", and believe 2or3 of my other ones will be fine, and after this past winter, after several -0F days, I am shocked. I just hope they don't leaf out too early. They are hybrids between the southern live oak, which you grow down south, and the smaller Plataue oak of the colder and drier areas of Texas and Oklahoma. But after -10F for 3 nights -8F a few days/nights and several -5F and so on, and so on....... I am amazed these trees are looking like this horrible cold is fine and dandy. They are likely Quercus Virginiana var Fusiformis. And they grow 2-3 ft a year. But like I said I hope they don't start spring growth early and get cold damaged. Well, whatever, I will post pictures when they make some spring growth.